Ruger SFAR issues

[Tonopah]

I pulled my 308 Ruger SFAR 16” out of the back of the safe, removed the OEM muzzle brake and installed a Keymo brake. Attached a Dead Air Sandman to it and went shooting. The OEM gas block was still set at 3. Shooting was problematic. Mostly failures to eject at all or only partial ejection.

I set the gas block to 2 but the same thing happened pretty much the same way. I set it to 1 and it was better, but far from reliable.

I removed the suppressor and set the gas block back to 3. Rifle shot fine. Dropped it back to 2 and had problems with ejection again. This rifle probably only had 50 rounds through it, all on the factory supplied initial gas block setting of 3, and functioned fine before I put it in the back of the safe a couple of years ago.

The serial number on this rifle is 563-04587 so it was “shipped in 2022.”

By the way, the rifle is quite accurate as I had no trouble at all hitting 200 and 300 yard plates from an unsupported standing position — when it did shoot.

Should I order and install a Superlative gas block or just continue to shoot it on setting 3 with no suppressor for a while and see if the rifle somehow magically “breaks in”?

 

[RockAndSage]

I pulled my 308 Ruger SFAR 16” out of the back of the safe, removed the OEM muzzle brake and installed a Keymo brake. Attached a Dead Air Sandman to it and went shooting. The OEM gas block was still set at 3. Shooting was problematic. Mostly failures to eject at all or only partial ejection.

I set the gas block to 2 but the same thing happened pretty much the same way. I set it to 1 and it was better, but far from reliable.

I removed the suppressor and set the gas block back to 3. Rifle shot fine. Dropped it back to 2 and had problems with ejection again. This rifle probably only had 50 rounds through it, all on the factory supplied initial gas block setting of 3, and functioned fine before I put it in the back of the safe a couple of years ago.

The serial number on this rifle is 563-04587 so it was “shipped in 2022.”

By the way, the rifle is quite accurate as I had no trouble at all hitting 200 and 300 yard plates from an unsupported standing position — when it did shoot.

Should I order and install a Superlative gas block or just continue to shoot it on setting 3 with no suppressor for a while and see if the rifle somehow magically “breaks in”?

What was it lubed with? How much, and where?

 

[RockAndSage]

What was it lubed with? How much, and where?

Also, IIRC, going from setting 3 to setting 2 actually reduces the gas, right?

 

[43.6N]

For your gas block, is “3” wide open? And “1” most restricted?

Here are a few follow up questions from 20years of working around and “tuning” ar15’s and AR10’s:

How far was brass ejecting? Any pattern to the ejection? Does your bolt ejector plunger work? Extractor claw is clean? Good tension on the extractor? Any chipping or premature wear on your bolt lugs?
What does your buffer system look like? What does the buffer weigh? Does the spring have a color painted on some of the coils?

 

[43.6N]

Mostly failures to eject at all or only partial ejection.

Describe this with a little more detail please.
Maybe pictures if you have them.

 

[Tonopah]

What was it lubed with? How much, and where?

Barrel thoroughly cleaned, dried well, and then one patch through it will a little CLP. Bolt carrier group was very clean, wiped it down, used nylon brush, left it with a light coat of Ballistal. I did not remove and clean the firing pin, however. A little bit of Ballistal inside the receiver and then wiped down.

going from setting 3 to setting 2 actually reduces the gas, right?

Yes.

For your gas block, is “3” wide open? And “1” most restricted?

Yes. Ruger recommends running the rifle on 3 (wide open) for several hundred rounds (so I have heard in the forums) to “break the rifle in” and then dial back to 2 for all normal shooting. Position 1 is intended for shooting suppressed.

Mostly failures to eject at all or only partial ejection.

I pull the trigger and nothing happens — then I notice that the bolt is fully closed on an empty chamber. Or, bolt is half way closed with the cartridge from the chamber stuck partly sideways in the receiver — often with damage to the case mouth and some to the side of the empty cartridge case.

I was thinking that the bolt is moving too fast and thought that reducing the gas setting would help (this is when the rifle was suppressed). When the suppressor was removed, the rifle functioned on 3 just fine but problems returned when I dialed it back to 2.

I am going to strip the rifle down again tonight and clean it, and this time I will remove the firing pin to check it for any damage and clean it too. I will shoot again tomorrow.

The ammo I was shooting was Federal 150 grain 308.

 

[Tonopah]

ChatGBT:
While
there is no formal, public safety recall for the Ruger SFAR regarding its gas block, Ruger has been actively addressing reliability issues—specifically cycling and extraction failures—by replacing original, problematic gas regulators with a revised, 4-position version. Early models often required, or still benefit from, sending the rifle back to the factory to fix issues related to gas leaks, loose gas-block screws, and inconsistent cycling.

 

[Tonopah]

I will remove the hand guard and inspect the gas block to see what I can see. I will also closely inspect the bolt to see if the gas rings look ok.

 

[43.6N]

Thank you for more detail.
If there is a recall out for your model, having Ruger take care of it seems the smartest and safest thing to do first.

 

[Tonopah]

I removed the BCG and then tried to remove the key thingy that has to be removed before the bolt itself can be pulled from the carrier. That key would not budge. I had to use some Kroil and a pair of pliers to get it out.

The interior of the BCG was filthy with a thick black grease including the firing pin channel. I cleaned all that up with a nylon brush, a wire brush, Q Tips and a pipe cleaner. Re-lubed everything with a bit of CLP and put the bolt/BCG back together.

I noticed some flakes of brass here and there in the receiver and the mouth of the chamber. I cleaned that out. I think that was from the cartridge case mouths that got deformed when the rifle was jamming. The bolt would sometimes not fully eject the spent cartridge and then slam it forward back against the chamber mouth -- damaging (partially collapsing the cartridge case mouth) and probably peeling away some flakes of brass.

I did not inspect the gas regulator. I will shoot the rifle again tomorrow and see if the sticky crud in the bolt/bolt carrier group/firing pin channel is the culprit or not first. Only then will I deal with the gas regulator — only if I think I have to.

All of this is actually over my head but I am just trying to address the obvious and easy things first.

 

[Tonopah]

For what it's worth, I bought the rifle new (serial number search say the rifle was shipped in 2022) and I doubt if I had put more than 50 rounds through it before I put it back in the safe. It shot fine back then. Pulled it out today and that's when the fun began. Maybe I did not clean it before I put it away and the gunk in there just sort of congealed over time. Dunno. I was totally new to the AR platform at that time and might not actually have known how to strip the rifle down properly for cleaning (I am an old M14 guy). So I am not blaming Ruger (yet) as I may be the one at fault for the function problems experienced today.

 

[43.6N]

For what it's worth, I bought the rifle new (serial number search say the rifle was shipped in 2022) and I doubt if I had put more than 50 rounds through it before I put it back in the safe. It shot fine back then. Pulled it out today and that's when the fun began. Maybe I did not clean it before I put it away and the gunk in there just sort of congealed over time. Dunno. I was totally new to the AR platform at that time and might not actually have known how to strip the rifle down properly for cleaning (I am an old M14 guy). So I am not blaming Ruger (yet) as I may be the one at fault for the function problems experienced today.

Sounds like you know your way around.
Just remember when it comes to these gas operated systems, the mfg spec spring rates and gas port sizes for 50kpsi ammo (7.62 nato) not the 62kpsi 308 ammo.

If you’re still having rough cycling when you shoot again, try to find some low velocity 147gr PMC or Winchester nato loads.

My impression given how you were describing the malfunctions, is a high pressure/excessive bolt velocity situation. Looking forward to hearing how it shoots for you next time.

 

[wyosteve]

Have you tried spraying cleaner down the gas tube? I had a similar problem on my Rem. AR .308 and the tube was full of 'soot'. Cleaned it and worked fine ever since. Very possible in my mind that after you let it sit for that length of time, the soot in the tube has solidified to some degree. FWIW, I have 2 SFAR's and they have been flawless with or without the suppressor. With the suppressor, the number 2 setting is perfect.

 

[Phaseolus]

Send it to Ruger, their quality control stinks but their service dept is pretty good.

 

[RockAndSage]

I removed the suppressor and set the gas block back to 3. Rifle shot fine. Dropped it back to 2 and had problems with ejection again.

OP, this is indicating to me that the rifle is actually undergassed, overall - probably due to a misaligned gas block, or something wrong with it internally. If Ruger is replacing them with 4-position blocks, I'd jump on that.

As a general rule, ARs not spitting the casings out is either undergassing, or too much resistance - resistance from excessive fouling and friction, or excessive weight in the buffer and recoil spring. Homebrew guns tend to have problems in their resistance tuning between spring and buffer weights, and in misalingned gas blocks. When you see these failures to eject as you're describing in factory guns though, it's usually an improperly built gun with something out of spec, or excessive resistance from fouling and lack of proper lubrication.

When they get overgassed though, they tend to fling the casings out hard and at odd angles, like 1 o'clock or 5 o'clock. You'll often also see some damage to the rim from the extractor, pulling hard on the case rim before the casing has fully de-pressurized and released its friction from the walls of the chamber.

The only oddity in what you're sharing, is that the gun cycled better on setting 3 with the suppressor off. That doesn't make sense to me, as the backpressure from most cans is about 5-15psi and increases BCG velocity backward and "helps" with ejection, but everything else you've shared indicates undergassing or excessive resistance. Given that the SFARs are known to have gassing and gas block problems, that's likely the culprit.

When you get it back (or if you shoot it again before sending it back), you can get some significant reliability improvements by changing lubricants over CLP or Ballistol by going to a heavier oil, or a lightweight grease. In your case at the moment, it probably won't be enough to make the gun reliable, but a 10w or 15w motor oil has far better lubrication properties in DI ARs, especially when they're suppressed, over just about any gun oil. Especially in terms of its ability to withstand the high temps around the gas-key and cam pin better. If you want something even better, homebrew a small jar of lightweight grease by mixing a dollop of automotive grease with some motor oil until it's about the consistency of a thick lotion. If you don't want to do that, the best performing lightweight grease I know of for ARs is from cherry balmz. The homebrew stuff will get you probably around 80% of the performance of the store bought stuff, but it's not as good in lower temperatures or in really finicky guns.

Let us know what you decide to do with the gun - it's an interesting problem set you're having, and I'd personally enjoy hearing how it gets resolved.

 

[North of 60]

The only thing i have to add is Ruger suggests shooting only on setting 3 unsuppressed for at least maybe 100 - 120 rounds or so. I did that with some Herters (win headstamp) factory ammo and got some blown primers with a few FTE.

I put in a little heavier buffer and with a mild load of Varget and 165 gr SGKs (or 168 SMK or 175 SMKs) has since worked like a charm for me in that rifle on the suppressed setting with no blown primers. Ejects at 3 to 4 O'clock.

I think mine was manufactured just after they improved the gas block.

 

[Kauaihunter]

Just saying what I did and it ran great and still runs after I sold it to my friends son, he loves it.

Installed heavier buffer day 1.

Drop in CMC Day 1.

Pulled Boomer Brake and installed A2 flash hider Day 1.

Clean BCG every so often and run it wet.

Clean regulator out every so often, if you don’t, it’s gonna get to where it’s hard to switch settings even. Also, gets really hard to pull it apart to clean.

Pmags run. Some other metal mags don’t or don’t run reliably.

Ammo matters, a lot.

It eats brass, the brass shavings will get everywhere.

I ran it on 3 for 10 rounds and switched to 2. Couple rounds more and FTF. Switched back to 3 and ran about a box more through and back to 2. Been there ever since and it shoots Hornady Black 168, Rem CL 150, Fed Fusion 150 and SSA 168 great.

 

[Tonopah]

I appreciate all the helpful comments. I will shoot the rifle later today. I am having some construction done at the ranch right now and I can't shoot until they leave for the day. If the rifle shoots ok on 3 with no suppressor, I will put more rounds through it and then dial it down to 2 and see if it shoots ok. Hopefully, it will. Nonetheless I may break it down further, remove the hand guard, and get to know the gas block and gas tube a bit. See if gas block is on solidly or not, and see if I can take it apart and clean it. I will also see about removing the gas tube and clean that too -- maybe with acetone? Anyway, I will report back as things proceed.

 

[Lou270]

I have a sfar 308 and run a trashpanda on it and I
am pretty sure it is set to “0”. I can check but
It is set to whatever they recommend for suppressor. Shot is a pile and no issue with Hornady black 168 atip. I just bought a bunch of 147 win whitebox but not tried that yet

Lou

 

[BreechFace]

I yarded out the junk Ruger gas regulator and installed a riflespeed gas block day one.

Even with the adjustability on the riflespeed I was still chewing up brass rims and flattening primers.

I added some buffer weight and a stiffer buffer spring and with that and the riflespeed it solved my issues.

Typical Ruger, send it out and let Ruger CS do the real work with the customer.